Humans Who Grow Food

10/23/2025

Inspiring people and beautiful garden

❤️🌶️ We never imagined this moment would come, holding our book surrounded by the harvest that inspired every page.

Pre-order your copy here:
https://geni.us/TheCompactGarden

Writing "The Compact Garden" has been the most rewarding journey. We poured everything we've learned over the years into creating a guide that we wish we'd had when we first started growing in our small space. Every technique, every tip, every lesson learned from our mistakes, it's all in here.

As a bonus, we also included DIY step by step plans for a lot of the garden builds that you've seen in our videos. Now you can recreate them in your own space! 🔨🌱

This book is for everyone who's been told they don't have enough room to grow food. For the balcony gardeners, the small yard dreamers, and even those with bigger backyards who want to use our compact techniques to double or even triple their harvest. It's for anyone who wants to experience the joy of harvesting their own vegetables, no matter the space.

We're so grateful to share this with you, and we truly hope it helps you grow the garden of your dreams. 🙏🌱

10/23/2025

“When I grow food, I feel more connected and understanding of nature, and this in turn reminds me to better take care of nature, for we are nothing without its resources.

When I grow food, I feel like I’m nourishing myself, inside and out. Not just with organic, nutrient-rich veg, but also with calm - a pause, a breath of fresh air, gratitude and self-acceptance. The garden has been one of the wisest teachers I’ve had.

When I grow food, I’m also growing a deeper connection with my community and neighbours - being able to have conversations, share my produce and preserves, has been one of the greatest joys that has come out of my garden”.

Full story coming soon of

10/23/2025

Meet Sara from Lebanon, TN, USA 🇺🇸

“I am an edible gardener attempting to grow as much of our family's food as possible. Neither my husband nor I had any farming or gardening experience when we moved from a condo in the suburbs of Chicago to almost 17 acres in middle Tennessee, and I used to struggle to keep any plants alive. But, through lots of learning, we now grow and raise the majority of our food.

I read a lot about nutrition and how it affects our health. The more I read, the more I realized that the best way to get the highest nutrition is to grow or raise it, so that is what we set out to do over a decade ago.

I grow food because I think it is important to know where food comes from and teach the next generation (my kids and others) that information as well. I also grow food to get the highest nutrition content in the food my family consumes.

I am located in Lebanon, TN. My garden consists of six rows that are about 25' long and 4' wide and 15 metal raised beds. We also have the beginnings of a food forest but our chickens and turkeys perpetually try to dig it all up so that isn't doing amazingly well at the moment.

I am growing on a solid rock which makes things very challenging. Soil is on my mind constantly. I use as many organic materials as I can to improve what little soil we do have. I always keep the soil covered with some sort of mulch such as leaves or older wood chips. We have a compost pile and leave wood chips to decompose for many years before using. I also add to the soil before planting anything new with fresh compost or veggie mix soil. For pest management, my ultimate goal is to have such lovely soil that there is not much pest pressure. I am not there yet so in the meantime, I use beneficial nematodes for soil borne pests, hand picking when I see pests, companion planting (although that does not work that well for me, I have a LOT of pests), and diluted molasses spray.

Rocks are the biggest struggle. It is hard to plant anything when the shovel hits rock 3 inches from the top of the soil. There are rocks literally everywhere on our property which makes everything hard! We also have a ton of pest pressure in the garden.

Knowing where our food comes from and knowing that we are putting the most nutritious food we can on the table for our family is very rewarding. Also, sharing a meal with friends or family with food we grew or raised feels absolutely amazing!

I am a Master Gardener with our county extension office. The Master Gardeners work to educate the community about growing plants, among other things. I participate with the Instagram which facilitates seed swapping. And I wrote a book on edible gardening for middle school aged kids that will be available in 2026.

Start small to grow big. Even just one herb plant in a pot will add delight to your meals and you can continue to grow from there!”

Instagram

10/22/2025

It’s wonderful to be involved in free trade communities.
Free compost from local waste management facility.
Free wood chips from local arborists.
Free coffee grounds from local coffee shops.
Variety of plants and seed potatoes from plant swap groups and some from our community “reduce reuse recycle group”
Hundreds of plants started from seeds saved from the garden or seeds gifted by other gardeners.
Excess produce and herbs from our garden shared with others.

Community, connection, and abundance — all made possible through sharing and sustainability.

10/20/2025

DIY planting board for quick and consistent sowing by

“We used a homemade template to make the planting holes. It's 6 inches (15 cm) wide and just long enough to fit the width of a raised bed; makes about 1200 or so holes in each bed.“

10/20/2025

“Neither my husband nor I had any farming or gardening experience when we moved from a condo in the suburbs of Chicago to almost 17 acres in middle Tennessee, and I used to struggle to keep any plants alive. But, through lots of learning, we now grow and raise the majority of our food”.

New story coming soon of

10/19/2025

Meet Charlie from Australia 🇦🇺

“I am a fun, passionate and happy individual who enjoys spending time in my garden and veggie patch with my fiancé and our dog, hanging out with my friends and family, and I love cooking (especially with produce from the garden). I am a primary school teacher and the oldest of four and love being able to help my friends create and get excited about their own veggie gardens. We were fortunate enough to grow up with a big yard and a veggie patch at home, and I was always determined to one day have my very own garden that we could enjoy bountiful harvests from!

My passion for growing food in our own veggie patch was reignited by a promotion that Australian supermarkets were running in which they gave customers a mini growing kit with every $15 spent. This of course snowballed as my collection grew and I became obsessed and am now on a first-name basis at our local hardware store! 😂

In addition to all of that, I love to cook and get creative in the kitchen, so having my own seasonal supermarket in our backyard is always something that motivates me. I get excited to be able to share our produce with our nearest and dearest and challenge myself to come up with new ways to enjoy our harvests.

By growing our own food, it benefits us in more than one way. By having produce ready to pick in the garden all year round, it reduces our grocery bills as we are not having to make as many trips to the shops, and with the current cost of living, anything helps! The second reason is the personal satisfaction and fulfilment you get from being able to serve up a meal knowing where majority of the food has come from and that it is organic.

We live in the foothills of Adelaide, South Australia, meaning our climate is temperate, with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters. We've got 3 main growing beds that are 2400mmx1200mm and have a few other smaller raised beds throughout our patch as well. In addition to this, we have over 20 fruit trees that we have planted over the last year and a half since moving to our place that we had been growing in containers for the past few years.

There are so many rules and opinions that you should follow and this can make gardening seem super overwhelming. The biggest challenge I faced early on was not having success with growing crops due to not having healthy soil for the plants to grow in. This then led to me unfairly comparing myself to other (more experienced) gardeners and not knowing why my garden wasn't thriving like theirs. I spent lots of money feeding my plants with chemicals and non-organic fertilisers without proper education. This was great for a quick-fix and would pump short bursts of nutrients into the plants for a temporary growth spurt, but it didn't address the real issues as to why the plants weren't growing as well as they should be. Since getting on top of this, I have seen healthier crops come through the patch and more bountiful harvests.

At my previous schools I ran a 'Gardening Club' for the students and we set up garden beds around the school and planted seeds and seedlings to grow our own food at school. I also organised for visits to our local community garden and was able to show my students first-hand what a thriving garden looks like when we explored topics around sustainability and growing your own food. I'm lucky to have a colleague at my current school who has managed to get an incredible veggie garden and productive fruit trees established at our school, including aquaponics! The students are always so excited to see how fruit and vegetables are grown, with lots never having had the opportunity to do so.

You'll kill lots of plants along the way, but don't take it personally. Have a go and don't be scared or ashamed to ask for help from someone who has the knowledge! My best advice to anyone who doesn't know where to begin is to start with growing seasonal produce that you like to eat. Start small and grow whatever you want to grow in your garden space from there! Planting from seed is such an exciting way to grow your own food, especially if you have given yourself enough time to really enjoy the growing season, but people shouldn't be scared to buy seedlings if life has gotten busy either”.

Please see the comments section for the link to Charlie’s social media.

10/18/2025

“Stepping outside with empty hands and coming back with hands (and arms, and pockets) full of produce is seriously awesome. Sharing our produce with friends and family is also super rewarding for us whether that be through cooking or sharing the fresh produce. I love being excited to make my daily visit to the patch to see what's ready to pick!”

Full story coming soon of .patch

10/18/2025

Turning a simple patch of grass into a vegetable and pollinator garden is a gift to both nature and ourselves. It becomes a living, breathing space where bees and butterflies thrive which are essential for pollination and biodiversity.

The garden brings the joy of fresh, homegrown food and a deeper connection to the earth. The transformation is a quiet act of love—for the planet, for the pollinators, and for future generations. What was once just lawn becomes a place of beauty, purpose, and hope.

Here’s how we converted our grass patch into a chaotic and thriving garden.
1. Cut the Grass: We began by cutting the grass down to ground level and let the patch dry out for a few days.
2. Install Bed Frames: Once the area was dry, we attached wooden bed frames to the ground using sturdy wooden stakes.
3. Cover the Ground: We lined the ground and the inside of the beds with thick brown paper to smother any weeds.
4. Add Soil and Compost: Each garden bed was filled with a rich mix of soil and compost. We used some free compost from our town’s waste management facility.
5. Create Pathways: The pathways between the beds were filled with an 8-inch deep layer of wood chips, making it easy to walk and keeping the weeds down.The wood chips were generously provided for free by a local arborist.

10/17/2025

“You'll kill lots of plants along the way, but don't take it personally. Have a go and don't be scared or ashamed to ask for help from someone who has the knowledge! My best advice to anyone who doesn't know where to begin is to start with growing seasonal produce that you like to eat. Start small and grow whatever you want to grow in your garden space from there! Planting from seed is such an exciting way to grow your own food, especially if you have given yourself enough time to really enjoy the growing season, but people shouldn't be scared to buy seedlings if life has gotten busy either”.

Full story coming soon of .patch

10/17/2025

“Always aim for ‘produce and not perfection’. Gardening is a skill that is mastered over a lifetime, and even masters have their failures. Start by planting a variety of seeds to see what grows best in your environment. Small wins from fast growing crops such as radishes and greens will inspire you in your pursuits of growing your own food.

Always remember, gardening is meant to be fun – life sometimes throws curveballs at you. Parts of my garden are always a mess and never look ‘instagram perfect’. Don’t let the carefully curated photos and content on social media discourage you from having a go! Connect with other like-minded people (face to face or online), share your successes and failures, keep an open mind and try to be 1% better every day!”

Mark Udovitch

10/16/2025

Meet Cam from Australia 🇦🇺

“I’m a pretty laid back guy who has a day job in transport, a love for football and an awesome little family with my wife Tahnee and 4 month old daughter Maisie. Gardening is my way of relaxing and being able to spend time outdoors with my family.

Since I was little, I loved spending time in my family's gardens, often picking apricots, apples and peaches from our orchard and enjoying tomatoes and leafy greens during summer. When we purchased our house in 2019, I wanted to become more sustainable and self-sufficient and extend my passion for gardening to our new home.

I grow food largely for the taste and fulfilment of being able to grow something that I can then cook with. I love sharing my abundance with family and friends.

We live in Australia in a little town on the Bellarine. I only have a small home garden consisting of 9 large raised garden beds, a few planters and plenty of potted fruit trees. I grow everything from brassicas- broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the winter to tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkin leafy greens and onions in summer. My favourite 3 veggies to grow are tomatoes, garlic and chillies.

Each season I top my garden beds up with fresh compost (home made where possible) and plenty of organic materials such as cow manure, blood and bone and fish emulsion. This leaves the soil full of life, bringing in the worms and improving soil health. When it comes to pest management, I like to use natural prevention as well as companion planting to help ward away unwanted pests.

With a young family and a demanding job, I don’t have as much time as I used to have, to spend in the garden. The climate is also challenging, we go from very cold temperature to very hot in a short amount of time meaning seed starting and timing the weather windows can become hard.

It feels great to be able to brag when we have people over that most of the food we serve is home grown.

We have a local community garden stand where I will often swap some of our excess produce for some items like eggs that we currently can’t produce ourselves.

Don’t let the pictures online stop you from starting your dream garden. I started with a $50 garden bed and a tomato seedling and before I knew it, I was hooked. Starting is the hardest thing of all. Growing veggies is about consistency and not about knowing everything”.

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